On April 1, the brothers of Theta Eta (American University), in conjunction with the US Paralympic Military Program, hosted the inaugural Armed Forces Wheelchair Basketball Game to benefit Push America and the Wounded Warrior Project. The event was a way for Pi Kappa Phi and the American University community to honor and appreciate the veterans who sacrifice so much for our country and freedoms, as well as a way to raise awareness for different adaptive sports like wheelchair basketball.

The basketball game featured wounded warriors from Walter Reed Medical and Brooke Army Medical centers and was held at Bender Arena on campus. Special guests at the event included Dr. Neil Kerwin, president of American University, Ryan Kules of the Wounded Warrior Project, Mark Timmes, CEO of Pi Kappa Phi, alumnus Major General Thomas Carter (Gamma Delta, Memphis) in addition to all of the active, inactive and veteran military personnel in attendance.

James Fine, who serves as the chapter’s Push America chairman and organizer of the event said, "We thought the event went extremely well. It took nearly six months of planning, but it all paid off in the end as we felt the event could not have gone any smoother. We had nearly 500 people attend the event and raised nearly $6,000 for Push America and the Wounded Warrior Project."

The Wounded Warrior Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring and empowering wounded warriors. The goals of the Wounded Warrior Project are to raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women, to help severely injured service members aid and assist each other and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of severely injured service members. To find out more about the Wounded Warrior Project, click here.

A big supporter of the event included the US Paralympic Military Program which provides post-rehabilitation support and mentoring to American service men and women who have sustained physical injuries such as traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputation, visual impairment/blindness and stroke. Veterans are introduced to adaptive sport techniques and opportunities through clinics and camps and are also connected with ongoing Paralympic sports programs in their hometowns. To learn more about the US Paralympic Military Programs, click here.

"Due to the uniqueness of the event and its success this year, we hope to make the Armed Forces Wheelchair Basketball Game an annual tradition for the men of Pi Kappa Phi at American University, the US Paralympic Military Program and Walter Reed Army Medical Center," says Fine. "The veterans seemed to really enjoy the friendly competition amongst each other as well as the enthusiasm of those in attendance. We are very excited to see what the future holds for this event!"

Push America would like to thank the men of the Theta Eta chapter for their continued support of Push America, the Wounded Warrior Project and people with disabilities. If you would like to support this chapter and event, or any other chapter event, please contact Andrew Matznick, director of chapter services, at amatznick@pushamerica.org or (704) 504-2400 ext. 117.